• Record Label: Sub Pop
  • Release Date: May 24, 2024
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
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  1. May 24, 2024
    100
    This is not groovy indie finery; there’s a rock-as-high-art vision at work here.
  2. May 24, 2024
    90
    The album is a darkly sweet exploration of heavy themes like cancer, death, and motherhood, delivered with a newfound confidence and maturity. On News of the Universe, La Luz has crafted an album that sounds timeless yet fresh, pushing their boundaries while maintaining the hypnotic beauty that defines their music.
  3. Jul 31, 2024
    80
    La Luz takes a big day-glo colored leap in News of the Universe, expanding a spooky, surf-rocking, girl-group sound into psychedelic overload. This is a full-on, trippy symphony, evoking baroque late Beatles, Os Mutantes and Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd.
  4. Mojo
    May 24, 2024
    80
    With its captivating melodies and sci-fi charm, News Of The Universe is as poignant as it is hopeful. [Jul 2024, p.88]
  5. May 24, 2024
    80
    The album’s warm airiness is achieved through their signature flourish of glowing, densely layered harmonies—a sound so golden that it seems to bathe you in light. It is also a sound like hope, evidence that Cleveland has managed to locate beauty in darkness.
  6. The Wire
    Oct 22, 2024
    70
    If it undeniably looks into a past long before any of the members were born, the actual results provide more welcome context, using the music of the 1960s to create a sound which, in toto, didn’t actually exist during that decade. [Nov 2024, p.62]
  7. Uncut
    May 24, 2024
    70
    “Poppies” is an aching, Beatle-esque waking dream, half-heard car radio for company, prime Aimee Mann a comparison. Cleveland’s distorted electric guitar, cool, Stereolab-like synth glides and dub Ethio-jazz further colour the scene. [Jul 2024, p.35]
  8. May 24, 2024
    70
    Cleveland's vocals are unfortunately low in the mix and it's often difficult to make out the lyrics, but approached simply as another instrument in the ensemble, her soft, breathy tone is lovely and enigmatic, and the layers of echoey guitars and '60s-style keyboard sounds blend wonderfully with her vocals.
  9. May 24, 2024
    70
    There’s generally less immediacy on this record than seen on previous albums, and this will no doubt turn off a few fair-weather fans. The flip side is a band pushing its boundaries, grabbing some serious Warp artist vibes, and evolving into something more cinematic and mature.

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